Leading Stakeholders Continue to Acquire Primary Care Practices

A story in the New York Times states that large health insurers and other companies are especially keen on doctors’ groups that care for patients in private Medicare plans.

The Medicare Advantage market is large and growing, with more than half of Americans eligible for Medicare selecting Medicare Advantage plans administered by insurers.

Companies with a strong presence in primary care can guide patients to their connected business units and increase revenues.

Primary care is health services that cover a range of prevention, wellness, and treatment for common illnesses. Primary care providers include doctors, nurses, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants.

A primary care practice serves as the patient’s entry point into the health care system and as the continuing focal point for all needed health care services.

Among the challenges that primary care physicians are facing, are long hours, reimbursement struggles, and an increasing number are becoming employed by hospitals or corporate entities.

As primary care evolves from fee-for-service to value-based care reimbursement, new primary care models and providers are emerging. Sites of care are also moving from clinics to virtual platforms, care at home, and pharmacy retailers, among others.

Retailers and insurers are entering the primary care market as they regard the size of the opportunity and a number of their competitors making investments.

Combined with a number of recent acquisitions and ongoing consolidation by market participants, AMI views the primary care market undergoing a major transformation over the next few years.

Takeaway: AMI’s recent report, Primary Care Market: Transforming in 2023-2024 provides a background of the primary care market and profiles the companies that will be leading the market in 2023 and beyond, segmenting them into three categories: Retailers, Alternative Models, and Virtual Platforms.